Charleswood's Jeff Stoughton was named the No. seed for the 2013 Safeway Championship in Tuesday morning.

Rounding out the top five were Fort Rouge's Mike McEwen, Brandon's defending champion Rob Fowler, Deer Lodge's William Lyburn and Brandon's Terry McNamee.

The championship will be held in Neepawa, Feb. 6-10.

"I think there's a bull's-eye on the top three seeds," said Reid Carruthers, Stoughton's second. "Fowler won last year, he's the defending champion, so the target should be on him. Mike McEwen has been to the last three finals and he's won I don't know how many World Curling Tour events."

McEwen has unofficially earned a berth into the Canadian Curling Trials in Winnipeg, so losing those finals won't prey on his mind as much as it would have.

"It's not as big a burden as it might have been a year ago," McEwen said, "It means we've been remarkably consistent, we just haven't been able to perform in that game.

"I expect tp be there (Brier) one day and the more shots we give ourselves in the final, we're going to win it sometime. I hope it's this year."

Meanwhile, the defending champs were only seeded No. 3 by their peers.

"It doesn't matter to us," said Derek Samagalski, Fowler's lead. "We were No. 3 last year and it worked out for us. It's just a number … No. 3 is nothing to be ashamed of."

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Stoughton No. 1 seed at Safeway

Charleswood's nine-time Manitoba champion Jeff Stoughton was named the No. 1 seed for the 2013 Safeway Championship in Tuesday morning.

Rounding out the top five were Fort Rouge's Mike McEwen, Brandon's defending champion Rob Fowler, Deer Lodge's William Lyburn and Brandon's Terry McNamee.

The championship will be held in Neepawa, Feb. 6-10.

"I think there's a bull's-eye on the top three seeds," said Reid Carruthers, Stoughton's second. "Fowler won last year, he's the defending champion, so the target should be on him. Mike McEwen has been to the last three finals and he's won I don't know how many World Curling Tour events."

McEwen has unofficially earned a berth into the Canadian Curling Trials in Winnipeg, so losing those finals won't prey on his mind as much as it would have.

"It's not as big a burden as it might have been a year ago," McEwen said, "It means we've been remarkably consistent, we just haven't been able to perform in that game.: